You asked, we delivered
Greyhound Pub – Residents were concerned about drug use and rough sleeping in the stairwell of the vacant pub at the corner of Hugh and Cambridge Streets. They asked us to contact the Greyhound’s leaseholder to see what could be done to secure the area leading down the stairs. We arranged for the leaseholder to be contacted as well as the new tenant for the property. The stairwell is now secure.
Gasworks at Churton Street – Residents informed us that works were being carried out in Churton Street due to a gas leak. However, the contractor was not on site and had left the site in a mess with barriers, kit and ‘no smoking’ signs. We investigated and the company claimed they had left the site so that the gas could settle in the new pipe before finalising the work. We took the view that they should have endeavoured to proceed with more vigour and inform residents why there was inactivity on the site. The company was advised that should they ask for an extension to the works, it would be refused, with the result that they would then be subject to daily charges for ‘undue highway occupation’. The work was completed the next day.
Removal of gas equipment late at night at Churton Place – Residents were appalled when a truck and crane reversed into Churton Place at 10pm and used stabilising feet and chains to remove metal equipment left by gas workers who had been carrying out works there. We contacted the company and informed them that they were not to go into a residential area in Westminster out of working hours without special permission.
Abandoned bikes in Alderney Street - A resident complained about bicycles being left abandoned in Alderney St for over a year and Westminster City Council failing to deal with earlier complaints. We investigated and, after due process in accordance with legislation, the bikes were removed. As a
follow-up to this, Warwick’s City Inspector liaised with the Victoria BID to carry out an audit of abandoned bikes in the areas overlapping into Warwick Ward. He consequently arranged for 10 bikes that were taking up space on the bike racks on Buckingham Palace Road, Grosvenor Gardens and Bridge Place to be removed.
Zebra Crossing in Warwick Way – We were contacted by a worried resident about the wearing out of the paint on the heavily-used zebra crossing in Warwick Way by Tachbrook Market. We contacted our Highways Team and arranged for the crossing to be repainted. This has now been done.
Cleansing – A resident was concerned about a man urinating by the black bin at the corner of Alderney Street and Sussex Street. She contacted Westminster City Council at www.westminster.gov.uk/report-it and asked for the area to be cleansed. She was appalled to find that the operative did a very poor job, trying to ‘clean’ the wrong area and didn’t even move the bin. We agreed with her that this was inadequate. We arranged for the area to be revisited and thoroughly cleaned with a jet spray.
Abandoned waste - We were informed that an FM Conway sign and two bags of sand had been left after road works, near the Sussex Street Playground for over a month. A resident had reported this but no action had been taken. We contacted the Highways Team and the waste has now been removed.
New Planning Application for QPark, Cumberland Street
In July, we reported that your Warwick Ward Councillors had achieved a major victory in seeing off a nightmare licensing application for a Deliveroo-type operation to provide alcohol between 2pm and 5am everyday out of the QPark car park in Cumberland Street.
We have just learnt that another planning application has been submitted to Westminster City Council. This time it’s for a rental car business and car wash, also operating out of QPark. The proposal would use 27 of the existing car parking spaces for the car rental branch. There would also be an office building with associated signage, installation of ancillary facilities including a wash bay and welfare block. Cllr Aiken said “We are totally opposed to this as the car park in in the middle of a residential area with homes on all sides.”
We are working with local residents to oppose this application. Please help us by objecting to the ‘Pimlico Car Park’ (17/06905/FULL) by clicking here to make your views known.
Anti idling campaign: #DontBeIdle
Our residents’ number one concern is air pollution. Cllr Nickie Aiken has expressed her determination as Leader of Westminster City Council to take steps to tackle this important issue. On 24th June, she launched a new campaign #DontBeIdle, which encourages drivers on the streets of Westminster to turn off their vehicle’s engines while they are stationary. This simple act is a way of preventing harmful chemicals like cyanide, nitrous dioxide and particulate matter from being pumped into our atmosphere.
There has already been considerable activity aimed at reducing idling in other parts of Westminster, particularly in connection with the Marylebone Low Emission Neighbourhood Project. During the autumn, we will be bringing the campaign to Pimlico with a blitz on coaches idling in relation to activities at Victoria Coach Station, on Elizabeth Bridge and Bulleid Way.
As part of this campaign, we are asking residents to join Westminster City Council by signing an Online Pledge not to idle. It is such a simple action but if we all do it, it can make a real difference to our air quality. So please go ahead and sign the #DontBeIdle pledge to show your commitment to improving the air quality in your city and help make a big difference -https://www.westminster.gov.uk/dont-be-idle
Sir Simon Milton University Technical College
It’s an exciting time for educational opportunities for young people in Westminster with the opening of the Sir Simon Milton University Technical College next to Ebury Bridge. The college will be for 14-19 year olds studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects with a focus on transport engineering and construction and the built environment.
Technical qualifications can be studied alongside GCSEs and A Levels. What makes UTCs special is that students will benefit from close links with leading industry partners, including Network Rail, Land Securities, BT fleet, Alstom, Sir Robert McAlpine and Transport for London. The first full day of teaching will be 11th September.
Construction work will be continuing on the site of the attached residential accommodation until Christmas.
Flytipping
Flytipping remains a continuing challenge. Unless other boroughs which are content to leave such waste until the designated collection day, Westminster City Council’s long-held policy is to have waste on the streets for as short a time as possible. We have taken the approach of providing information about the correct way to dispose of waste and recycling, then educating ‘offenders’ and finally, enforcement. This work is carried out by Finton Warwick’s dedicated City Inspector and also a mobile operations team.
During July, the Inspector has issued 8 Fixed Penalty Notices, 24 Waste Transfer Notices and 16 Warnings. He is also continuing to enforce against residents/businesses that dispose of their waste outside the big black bins/micro recycling centres. A £400 fine was issued against delivery companies for nearby embassies on Eccleston Square and a religious establishment on St George’s Drive was advised about not using bins as a dumping ground.
Our mobile operations team has been targeting residential waste outside bins within the Grid and giving warnings to those leaving the waste. This month, the majority of the residential waste was found in Sussex St/Alderney St areas.
Silver Sunday: 1st October 2017
Cllr Christabel Flight and her team from the Sir Simon Milton Foundation with valued help from Westminster City Council Events team have been working incredibly hard on arranging free activities for Silver Sunday on 1st October (some are happening during the week). Silver Sunday is open to all Westminster residents aged 65 plus.
New this Year!
- Design Museum;
- Horse Guards’ Service;
- Morse Code workshop;
- British Museum Weekend Warriors;
- Regent Street Cinema Film Screening;
- YMCA Central Club Gym – Open Week; and Social Teas;
- Afternoon Tea at The Wellesley
- Cheese and Wine Evening with the Blind Veterans Society
- Afternoon Tea at Edwardian Hotels
- Open Age dance-a-thon
- Rat Pack at the Hippodrome
- Silver Sunday Tai Chi at The Rec
- Jane Austen book group as well as many other favourites such as Lords Cricket Ground, The Royal Albert Hall and the English National Ballet who have all signed up again, so there is plenty to choose from
‘Westminster Plus’ containing all Westminster events has gone to press and should be with those receiving a Freedom Pass in September. It also has details of the eleventh free Tea Dance for 1000 Westminster Residents aged 65+ held in the Great Room of the Grosvenor on Sunday 10th December.
Silver Sunday has gone viral! Last year over 600 events were held nationwide, but this year we have seen a surge in interest across the British Isles from Aberdeen to Belfast and Cornwall, from North to South and East to West. A campaign based around our new website www.silversunday.org.uk on social media, particularly Twitter (@SilverSundayUK) has brought in a wave of new participants such as the Bristol Ferry, which is putting on a special crossing, we have a walking football tournament laid on in Worcester supported by the Walking Football Association, gym classes at the YMCA and 64M Artists have included a day just for us in their #generation games campaign.
We are particularly excited that the national body for village halls (ACRE – Action with Communities in Rural England) who are responsible for the 10,000 Village Halls throughout the country has committed to promote Silver Sunday. We have been in touch with the producers of the Radio 4’s ‘The Archers’. It has been reported on Twitter that Jill Archer said in a recent episode "Should I campaign against loneliness in older people?" So hopefully Ambridge may be coming on board as well!
